This invention generally relates to cleaning devices and specifically to cleaning devices for rugs and carpets.
Most of the prior art devices for cleaning rugs and carpets have consisted basically of a system for delivering cleaning solution (usually a hot aqueous detergent solution) to the rug or carpet and a system for vacuuming the applied cleaning solution from the rug or carpet. Many of the prior art devices had rotating brushes or beater bars to work the cleaning solution into the rug or carpet and to aid in the dislodging of dirt and other debris from the fibers of the rug or carpet.
The delivery system for the cleaning solution usually included a reservoir or tank for holding the solution, a pump for pumping solution from the tank to a cleaning head having one or more nozzles to apply the cleaning solution onto an underlying rug or carpet to be cleaned.
The vacuum system generally comprised a vacuum chamber or nozzle disposed in the cleaning head which is positioned over the rug or cleaner to aspirate applied cleaning solution, dirt and other debris from the rug or carpet, and a vacuum pump in fluid communication with the vacuum chamber or nozzle to generate a partial vacuum therein.
There are two variations of the basic system found in the marketplace. In one embodiment, the cleaning head, the solution delivery system, the vacuum system and one or more solution tanks are integrated into a single wheeled housing which is pulled over the rug or carpet by the operator. The other embodiment is similar to the first except that the cleaning head is a separate unit from a wheeled housing containing the vacuum system, the solution delivery system and the solution tanks. Vacuum tubes and solution delivery tubes are provided to interconnect the separate cleaning head with the respective vacuum and solution delivery systems in the wheeled housing. In this latter embodiment, the separate cleaning head is usually provided with an elongated, metal or rigid plastic vacuum tube connection which is used as a handle to facilitate movement of the cleaning head over the rug or carpet by the operator.
Both embodiments have advantages and disadvantages. For example, the cleaning unit having a separate cleaning head is easier to manipulate over a rug or carpet surface during the operation thereof, but because of the additional distance the fresh solution must be pumped to the cleaning head and the spent solution must be transferred back to the housing after the aspiration thereof from the rug or carpet, the power requirements for both the solution pump and the vacuum pump are substantially increased. Moreover, the connections for the tubings for the separate cleaning head present maintenance problems because they frequently leak solution.
The cleaning devices which are completely contained in a wheeled housing are most desirable from a manufacturing and maintenance point of view but they are very difficult to move over a rug or carpet surface during the cleaning thereof. As a result of this latter difficulty in operating the integrated units, their use has been limited to professional or commercial rug and carpet cleaners.
Both types of prior cleaning devies required frequent repair of leaking solution lines and connections due to the frequent abrupt application of high fluid pressure to the solution delivery lines during the operation of the cleaning unit.
Additionally, although the prior cleaning devices which employed rotating brushes or beater bars in the cleaning head provided improved cleaning, they caused very rapid wear of the rug and carpet fibers.
The present invention is directed to improvements in the rug and carpet cleaning devices. More specifically, the invention responds to the need to make cleaning devices easier to manipulate during use thereof and the need to make such cleaning devices more efficient in their operation and less costly to build and maintain.